29 Int’l Companies Invited to Bid for Oil Project

A top Iranian official said the country is going to put development of its Azadegan oilfield out to tender in coming days, noting that 29 oil giants, including Shell and Total, have been invited to make their offers in the event.

Ali Kardor, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said on Sunday that Iran will hold the bidding event before Friday, June 2.

According to the official, invitations have been sent to 29 international companies to make offers for development of Azadegan oilfield, located in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan.

The major foreign companies include Shell, Total, CNPC, Sinioc, Lukoil, Pertamina, and OMV, he added.

In August 2016, Kardor had announced that development of Iran’s big oil fields would be put out to tender using a new model of contracts known as Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

Azadegan, known as the world’s third largest oil field, is believed to contain 37 billion barrels of crude.

Part of the giant oilfield, known as South Azadegan, is shared with neighboring Iraq.

Iran has ramped up efforts to attract foreign investment and import modern technologies to boost its oil industry in light of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) that took effect in January 2016.